from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

Supported by arms; carried on or maintained by force or readiness for military action: as, an armed inroad; armed peace or neutrality.

In heraldry, having the beaks, talons, horns, or teeth, or, of an arrow or lance, having the head, of the color specified: as, a lion gules armed or. The word is not used for the horns of a hart or buck. See attired.

In physical, furnished with an armature or a piece of iron so as to connect the poles, as a horseshoe magnet.

In botany, having prickles or thorns.

In heraldry, dressed in complete plate-armor, but having the vizor open: said of a warrior used as a bearing or supporter.

adj. (used of persons or the military) characterized by having or bearing arms

adj. (used of plants and animals) furnished with bristles and thorns

adj. having arms or arms as specified; used especially in combination

Etymologies

arm (“the upper limb of the body”) +‎ -ed (Wiktionary)

Examples

The following day, Phillippe and a band of 200 insurgents armed with vintage rifles and M-16's (some of which, according to Le Monde's Caroit, were provided by the U. S.-armed Dominican military) captured Cap Haitien and began their advance on Port-au-Prince.

For federal income tax purposes, the term "armed forces" tends to include commissioned officers, warrant officers, and enlisted personnel in regular and reserve units under control of the Secretaries of the Defense, which are generally the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force.

The LCC says: The latest episode of this series was in Baba Amr, where the regime attempted to blame what it calls "armed terrorist groups," in order to support its false story before the United Nations' security council meeting to discuss the Syrian file.

Syria's government said a 10-year-old boy and a number of others, including police officers, were injured in Damascus's Midan neighborhood on Friday, when what it called an armed terrorist group detonated an explosive and fired randomly.

The government said a 10-year-old boy and a number of others, including police officers, were injured in Damascus's Midan neighborhood on Friday, when what it called an armed terrorist group detonated an explosive and fired randomly.

The disorder reflects an escalation in the battle against President Bashar al-Assad that risks fueling his government's fight against what it calls armed terrorist groups, while pushing protesters to seek arms as they continue to face a military and security apparatus vastly more capable of crushing them.